The articulatory in-out effect: Driven by articulation fluency?

Abstract

People prefer linguistic stimuli with an inward-wandering consonant sequence (e.g., PATIKO) over those with an outward-wandering consonant sequence (e.g., KATIPO), a preference referred to as articulatory in-out effect. Previous research has proposed that this effect is based on a higher fluency of inward versus outward articulation. Recently, however, several keystones of this articulation fluency account have been called into question. In the present research, we provide a straightforward test for this account by extending the traditional in-out effect research design to include other sequences as well. This allowed comparing liking and articulation fluency judgments over a range of stimuli beyond merely inward vs. outward stimuli. The results of two highly powered experiments (N = 531, one preregistered) show that even though inward stimuli are more fluent and better liked than outward stimuli, over all stimulus types articulation fluency and liking judgments diverge. These findings imply that articulation fluency alone cannot account for differences in liking such as the in-out effect. We discuss further directions for future in-out effect research.